US Post WWII

1
US Post WWII

• Truman and Eisenhower
• Harry S. Truman 1945-1953
• After WWII, a fear of the return of the Great
  Depression was around
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vXyoviiavusk
• Marshall Plan was created to help stop the
  depression from returning

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Harry S. Truman 1945-1953

• Another action to help stave off another
  depression was to give the jobs back to the
  returning soldiers.
• GI Bill of Rights helped soldiers pay for
  employment, vocational, technical, and a college
  education, and medical care (13.5 Billion was
  put into the economy for veteran education and
  training alone.)
• This allowed higher education for all rather than
  a few as it had been prior to the GI Bill of
  Rights
• Veterans Administration guaranteed home loans
  and purchase of houses with no money down which
  stimulated a postwar housing boom.
• Because of pent up demand from the depression and
  wartime shortages, inflation, not depression was
  the result
• After wartime restrictions were lifted, in 1946,
  prices rose an average of 25

3
Harry S. Truman 1945-1953

• After the death of FDR in April 1945, Harry S.
  Truman became President
• He was not seen as the strong leader that FDR
  was.
• In the off year Congressional elections of 1946
  the Republicans used American anxieties about the
  postwar world, and Trumans ability to handle
  them and won majorities in both houses of
  Congress for the 1st time since 1930
• Republicans proposed program did little more than
  try to reverse the reforms of the New Deal and
  turn down Trumans Fair Deal

4
Trumans Fair Deal

• In June 1945 Truman witnessed the signing of the
  charter of the United Nations, hopefully
  established to preserve peace.
• Thus far, he had followed his predecessor's
  policies, but he soon developed his own. He
  presented to Congress a 21-point program,
  proposing the expansion of Social Security, a
  full-employment program, a permanent Fair
  Employment Practices Act, and public housing and
  slum clearance. The program, Truman wrote,
  "symbolizes for me my assumption of the office of
  President in my own right." It became known as
  the Fair Deal.
• http//www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/ht33.
  html

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Trumans Fair Deal

• Truman vetoed 80 Republican bills that attacked
  the New Deal and sent many proposals to Congress,
  many of which were shot down
• He did get an increase in the minimum wage and he
  brought 10 million more under Social Security
• Trumans actions assured reelection in 1948.

6
Unions under Truman

• A result of WWII was the reemergence of business
  influence and a decrease in support of labor
  unions.
• Conservatives did not like the strength of
  organized labor therefore, they passed the
  Taft-Hartley Act (over Trumans veto) which
  outlawed closed (all union) shop, made unions
  liable for damages from jurisdictional disputes
  and required unions to take non-Communist oaths
• Union membership peaked in the 1950s then
  steadily declined.

7
Minorities under Truman

• 1st president to actively advocate the end of
  discrimination against American blacks.
• An executive order banned racial discrimination
  in the military, civil service and in companies
  that did business with the govt
• It was the Korean War that effectively integrated
  troops
• Trumans Civil Rights Policies insured the
  Democratic Party the black vote

8
Election of 1948

• Democrats Truman
• Southern Branch of Democrats Dixiecrat Party
  Strom Thurmond
• Progressive Party Henry Wallace
• Republicans Thomas Dewey
• Would the splits hurt Truman? NO!
• Southern walkout assured Truman the southern
  black urban vote
• Truman campaigned against the do nothing
  eightieth Congress (mostly Republican)
• Most predicted a Republican victory

9
Election of 1948

• Truman received 24.1 million popular votes to 22
  million for Dewey and 303 electoral votes against
  Deweys 189.
• Truman won for 2 reasons 1. coalition of
  Democratic blacks, union members and northern
  urban ethnics 2. Republicans were so confident
  of victory many did not vote

10
Communist Scare

• The Truman Doctrine, 1947
• Policy of containment of Communism
• The Soviet takeover of Eastern Europe, the
  Chinese Communist victory in China, the invasion
  of South Korea by the North Koreans, and the
  Soviet explosion of an atomic bomb in 1949
  confused and frightened the American public.
• This helped Trumans policy of scaring the hell
  out of people so they would accept his
  containment policy

11
Communist Scare

• When the foreign factors along with politicians
  who were willing to take advantage for their own
  gain came together, it created a great fear of
  subversion and communism
• Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of
  sharing secrets of atomic weapons with the
  Soviets and were executed in 1953.
• Wisconsin Senator Joseph R. McCarthy became
  famous for his Communist accusations
• He was supported by Republicans of the time
  because it was a way to combat against the
  Democrats who held office for a long time.

12
Communist Scare

• For a while an attack on McCarthy was an attack
  on the American way of life
• When 2 Democrats opposed McCarthy on the Senate
  floor and lost their next elections many began to
  fear McCarthy.
• McCarthy and McCarthyism are products of American
  party politics
• Because no one in either party attacked him
• Many careers and lives were ruined because of
  accusations and innuendo
• Black Lists were created in education,
  entertainment, business and govt.
• The House Un-American Activities Committee
  called 100s of witnesses , there was no
  distinction between Communism and traditional
  right of dissent

13
McCarthy under Eisenhower

• 1952 election saw Dwight Eisenhower become
  president.
• McCarthy became an embarrassment to the
  Republican party
• Army-McCarthy Hearings April-June 1954
• McCarthy accused the military of harboring
  Communists and Eisenhower of not doing enough to
  combat against it.
• This caused his downfall and he was eventually
  censured by the Senate for breaking Senate rules
  for a refusal to appear before a Senate
  subcommittee and answer questions
• The real issue of McCarthyism and Americas
  second Red Scare was civil liberties in a time of
  crisis. Propaganda - McCarthysim

14
1950s

• Eisenhower was the first Republican president
  since the New Deal
• His acceptance of New Deal programs legitimized
  them
• Eisenhower emphasized dynamic conservatism
• Caution in financial and economic matters, but
  with attention to social welfare.
• Under Eisenhower the St. Lawrence Seaway and
  Interstate Highways were built.
• The Agricultural Trade and Development and
  Assistance Act (1954) was designed to solve 2
  problems 1. help the American farmer by getting
  rid of surplus food 2. use the food as an
  instrument of foreign policy

15
1950s

• The 1950s were an age of unprecedented wealth
  and prosperity (although maldistributed)
• What made people wealthier if there were still
  many poor around?
• Discretionary income income people had left
  over after paying for necessities
• Social developments
• TV 1950 9 homes had a tv 1955 64.5 1970s
  more tvs than refrigerators, bathtubs, or
  toilets
• Impact less reading? Creation of a mass culture?
• Growth of national franchise companies

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http//www.youtube.com/watch?vbAyPqy0wUug